BAHRAM
BAHRAM (called Bufram in the OVA and Anime), also referred to as the BAHRAM army, is an illegitimate anti-terrestrial military organization. It is notable for featuring the main antagonists of the Zone of the Enders series. Based in Mars' Vascilia County, BAHRAM is closely allied with the Martian weapons development company Nereidum Universal Technology, with whom it developed the Orbital Frame. Ideology BAHRAM seeks the freedom and independence of Mars. However, Ken Marinaris notes that BAHRAM's true intent is dominance rather than liberation, which becomes more pronounced as Nohman tightens his hold on the organization. Because of this, their followers are often amoral and do not hesitate to cause civilian casualties if it means the defeat of the Earth Forces. Synopsis Zone of the Enders: 2167 IDOLO Having been established in 2158, BAHRAM is introduced as a semi-independent UNSF militia division based in Vascilia County that was tasked to defend Mars. Despite essentially being a part of the UNSF they held deep-seated resentment towards the Earth who often persecuted Martians and used the derogatory word 'Ender' to refer to them, working towards the goal of complete liberation of Mars and independence from the Earth. Martian pride was prolific in Vascilia as it had been the fist part of Mars touched by human feet, and as such feelings of anger and resentment towards the Earth for their treatment of Martians was higher here than in any other county on Mars. However, at the height of Earth-Mars tensions, BAHRAM was forced to disarm and turn over its equipment to other units arriving from Earth. With only a few personnel left, the unit was forced to partner with Nereidum Universal Technology (NUT) to research and deploy the first combat-ready Orbital Frame, Idolo. With the new Frame, developed using the mysterious newly discovered ore called Metatron, idealistic BAHRAM personnel hoped that it could be used as a bargaining chip in Martian independence. However, the UNSF's attempt to disband BAHRAM and take control of Idolo turned into a deadly mutiny, and the Deimos Incident would be the trigger for hostilities between Earth and Mars. During the Deimos incident, both the UNSF and BAHRAM worked together to destroy Idolo, which went on a destructive rampage at the hands of the rogue pilot Radium Lavans, implied to have been driven to insanity due to overexposure to Metatron as a result of piloting the frame. Following the incident a complete cover up of the incident was agreed upon by both sides and BAHRAM became a fully independent organisation with a stated goal of securing freedom for Mars. The UNSF made no further attempt to disband and destroy BAHRAM, perhaps fearing another Deimos incident, but a cold war of sorts ensued between both sides with each watching the other. BAHRAM rapidly expanded their Orbital Frame development, beginning mass production of frames that were all based around a base model called the Raptor - the architect behind the Raptor was Dr Rikoah Hardiman, who would come to be known as "the father of Orbital Frame technology". Whilst BAHRAM developed follow ups to the prototype Idolo frame based on its wreckage recovered following the Deimos affair, Hardimann began work on the Aumaan plan, orientated around the construction of a massive military fortress on Mars and two highly advanced Orbital Frames; Jehuty and Anubis. To further conceal this top secret project, development of the frames was moved to the space colony Antilia on Jupiter, far away from the Earth's gaze. Zone of the Enders When the UNSF took control of BAHRAM facilities on Antilia , and confiscated the Orbital Frames Jehuty and Anubis, BAHRAM launced a vicious counterattack, with an entire battalion of unmanned frames and its members Nohman, Viola, Axe, Slash and Nightraid in high-end type C Orbital Frames. Even though they easily brushed aside the UNSF garrison and recaptured Anubis, the actions of civilian Leo Stenbuck and the crew of the Atlantis ''kept Jehuty out of BAHRAM's reach and annihilated the attack force. Of the BAHRAM personnel that attacked the colony, only Nohman is known to have survived, with Viola killed and Axe, Slash, and Nightraid MIA. The fact that BAHRAM was happy to attack neutral civilians and rescue workers, even with the elimination of the UNSF military presence, caused public opinion to turn against them, and the loss of experienced frame runners caused a major personnel crunch. In order to preserve their true objective in recovering their prototype orbital frames, BAHRAM framed their raid on Antilia as a liberation from the UNSF who had seized the colony by force - acting in support of their fellow 'Enders' on Jupiter. Despite this they received significant resistance from the more moderate political factions on Mars, who insisted that BAHRAM did not represent the whole of Mars and whose actions they knew would place Mars in direct opposition to the Earth. The raid was ordered by General Rutger Tyusha, BAHRAM commander-in-chief, although Colonel Nohman, as the son of Rikoah Hardimann, is implied to be the one truly behind it as he had inherited his father's project and was determined to see it to completion. Zone of the Enders: Dolores,i While the victory at Antilia might have allowed BAHRAM some breathing room, the issue of how to sustain their operations against UNSF escalation arose, and with the loss of the Antillia attack force and public opinion turning against them due to the callousness of the raid, personnel shortages became apparent. General Rutger Tyusha decided to use the morale from the attack to launch an ambitious assault; taking control of the Earth Orbital Elevator. Radium Levans, who had survived the Deimos Incident, launched an even more radical plan behind Tyusha's back; toppling the Earth Orbital Elevator and causing a disaster of untold proportions. However, when moderate BAHRAM brass back on Mars realized that Earth's destruction would also cause epic economic issues on Mars, they called a truce with the UNSF to assist a small party led by James Links to intercept Levans. The resulting battle saw Levans's BAHRAM squadron suffer major casualties and a huge defeat. With General Rutger Tyusha having committed suicide during the operation and Radium Lavans dying after a last act of atonement in helpting to prevent the Orbital Elevator from toppling, BAHRAM's leadership was thrown into disarray. Said to be "a geriatrics club", the BAHRAM leading council ultimately chose Colonel Nohman to succeed Rutger Tyusha as commander of BAHRAM. Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars BAHRAM become aware that the UNSF have developed their own prototype Orbital Frames, called the Animus series, the research for which dates back to as early as 2163. The culmination of this research led to the creation of the Orbital Frames Iblis and Testament, which were designed to be operated using the IDO Mindflow System which would exactly emulate the effect Idolo had on Radium Lavans, creating perfectly obedient Frame Runners. To serve as the guinea pigs for this system, children were abducted, such as Vale and Pharsti Shatner. The man behind all this was the UNSF's Dezeele Zephyrs, who felt intense bitterness towards Rikoah Hardiman and sought to surpass him in the field of Metatron research. Lance Jimmer of BAHRAM had his spy Amante Furlair planted within the inner circle of Zephyrs whilst he also used Vale Shatner - given the alias Ares Enduwa - as his agent to spearhead a violent Martian independence movement in Hellespontos County. Ares had also hijacked Iblis from the Bonaparte III to help him achieve his mission. Jimmer had taken in Vale and Pharsti after they managed to escape Zephyrs's lab, with the aim of turning them against their former captors. BAHRAM's goal was to eliminate the Animus project as quickly as possible, seeing it as a huge threat to their technological superiority over the UNSF - the Orbital Frame was the only thing that gave them the ability to fight the Earth as the UNSF still used LEVs. One turn of events BAHRAM never anticipated was the intervention of Born in Space (BIS) a Hellespontos-based anti-terrestrial group that ended up with the Orbital Frame Testament when Cage Midwell, Ares's friend from the Bonaparte III, who took the frame in order to escape the ship's destruction, joined the group. Alongside him was Pharsti Shatner who had sacrificed her memory to implant part of her soul into the frame, moved by the need to help Cage and protect him during the destruction of the Bonaparte III. This led Ares to initially infiltrate BIS as a spy, though he eventually reveals his true allegiance to BAHRAM. When BIS defeat Zephyrs, BAHRAM finally act directly, with Jimmer deploying many unmanned Orbital Frames against them in an attempt to stop them intervening in activities of Ares; who intends to fire a Marlebank beam in the largest residential nest on Hellespontos as an act of revenge. It is eventually revealed that Lance Jimmer is actually Ani Aegis, an earth-born BAHRAM frame runner and rising star who had been a rival to Nohman for the BAHRAM leadership, hating the former for the privilege and fortune he enjoyed as the son of Rikoah Hardiman. It is implied that he ultimately attempted to murder Nohman but failed, leading to him adopting a new name and face as Jimmer. Amante reveals herself to actually be a spy for Nohman, gleefully informing Jimmer that she knows who he really is and betraying him. Amante later makes a call to Nohman following the conclusion of events, confirming that their plans ultimately were accomplished as they got of the UNSF's Animus series and Dezeele Zephyrs whilst also raising awareness across Mars of anti-terrestrial activity. Stating that the whole of Mars is looking to see what BAHRAM will do next, she expresses her interest in what their next strategy will be. Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner Despite the debacle that resulted from Radium Lavans's ill-fated Earth Orbital Elevator attack, Nohman's goals had been realised; with his opponents within BAHRAM eliminated, he could rally his pet psychopaths and launch a fresh offensive backed by a new generation of unmanned Orbital Frames, that were created using data from Anubis and the near-infinite resources afforded by the Metatron fortress Aumaan . Despite stubborn UNSF resistance, BAHRAM eventually routed the UNSF and took control of Mars's entire strategic infrastructure as well as Deimos Station. BAHRAM inflicted mass devastation on the surface of Mars during their annihilation of the UNSF, and continued to patrol Mars in the aftermath; hunting for survivors of their onslaught with their newly created fleet of warships. By this point, Nohman had suffered the same degree of Metatron poisoning as Radium Lavans before him, being in thrall to the power of Metatron, mostly likely as a result of piloting Anubis and understanding the true nihilistic purpose of Aumaan as laid out by his father - the complete destruction of all life, which he stated was the 'will' of Metatron and would be accomplished with the full activation of Aumaan. However, Nohman's backstabbing would lead to his downfall; mutineering BAHRAM Frame Runner Ken Marinaris would call on the disgruntled former BAHRAM pilot, Dingo Egret, to use Jehuty, in a counterattack to destroy Aumaan and defeat Nohman - Dingo was believed to be the only one capable of matching Nohman's skill as a Runner. Despite Nohman calling Marinaris's mutiny, the damage was done. BAHRAM is defeated when Dingo Egret killed Nohman in the core of Aumaan which was ultimately revealed to be on Phobos, and its destruction would lead to BAHRAM scattering as UNSF reinforcements from Earth arrived. Though BAHRAM was finally defeated and the anti-terrestrial movement ended, Dingo was nonetheless able to secure the independence of Mars, striking a bargain with the Earth following his actions in destroying Aumaan and BAHRAM. Trivia *The organization's name "BAHRAM" appears to be based off of the Persian language name for Mars.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahram "Bahram" as a name can mean "smiting of resistance" or "victorious" in the same language.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahram_%28name%29 *BAHRAM's symbol bears resemblance to the symbol of the Principality of Zeon in the ''Mobile Suit Gundam series, of which Zone of the Enders is partially based. References Site Navigation Category:Organizations